Went for a ride that included a ten mile stretch along the canal...

[MontyVeda]

so yes, I went for a ride that included a ten mile stretch along the canal... the ten mile stretch had no locks, no bridges where to tow path switches side, just a nice long section of flat, often bumpy tow path... or so i thought.

According MapMyRide, the ten miles of canal is far far hillier than i imagined. (it's the bit between the two purple markers)

(ignore the blue line, that just shows how slow i am)

The red line shows that my elevation above sea level varied between 63ft and 99ft... but that can't be right.. surely

 

[roadrash]

not unless water can now flow uphill

 

[stuee147]

Its surprising just how hilly a flat area can be I never found a road or path Thats flat they all seem to undulate a lot. But its such a gradual thing that you never really notice it at the time

 

[MontyVeda]

yeah but this is a canal... it wouldn't work if it undulated too much between locks... a few feet I'd expect, but 36' ???

 

[stuee147]

The height of the toe path can vary above the surface level of the water

 

[Globalti]

Curious indeed; the tow path wouldn't vary by more than a couple of feet above the water. Could it just be down to aberrations in the mapping?

 

[MontyVeda]

The height of the toe path can vary above the surface level of the water

not by 36 feet it didn't.

I'm guessing the Map My Ride app on my thickfone simply got it wrong... but who knows?

 

[ComedyPilot]

Given the curvature of the earth, and the fact all canals still flow downstream - albeit a lot slower than a river - I don't think 30 feet is a massive drop in 10 miles.

 

[MontyVeda]

Given the curvature of the earth, and the fact all canals still flow downstream - albeit a lot slower than a river - I don't think 30 feet is a massive drop in 10 miles.

good point, although the 30ft drop is over about 5 miles... it's the little sharp peaks and troughs in the middle i also find baffling because it's flat flat flat apart from the odd 4" speed hump..

Do all *lock free* canal journeys undulate like this?

 

[Brains]

...... and now you see the inaccuracy of the American GPS system, it's got better over the last decade, but a 10 meter accuracy (horizontal and vertical) in northern Europe with a good view of the southern sky is as good as you are going to get .

The European Galileo GPS system which goes live in a couple of years will be accurate to within one meter

 

[Archie_tect]

metre...

 

[vernon]

The height of the toe path can vary above the surface level of the water

The toe path is at least a foot above the water level.

 

[Globalti]

It only take me five seconds to remove the OS map from my jersey pocket, unfold it and acquire my location. No batteries needed either, and I can see the topography and all the attractions just off my route. No contest.

 

[MontyVeda]

It only take me five seconds to remove the OS map from my jersey pocket, unfold it and acquire my location. No batteries needed either, and I can see the topography and all the attractions just off my route. No contest.

Ooooh get you!

 

[Hop3y]

Which canal?

I've cycled Leeds to Liverpool and there is a massive difference in height.